Second Best
by Marymel
Summary: Catherine, Maria and Helena pay a special person a visit.


**Jackson and Greta are my original characters, but I don't own CSI.**

 **I really like how Catherine bonded with Maria and Helena, the little girls who lost their mother in Immortality. Since it looked like Catherine would be their guardian, I thought it would be good to have a story with them. Hope you enjoy...and please review!**

Crayons and paper scattered around the table as two little girls colored away. They wanted everything to be perfect. This was as special gift, and they wanted everything just right.

Thirty minutes later, the girls were standing in front of a grave with their guardian. They held her hands and sniffed back tears as they thought of their mother.

Maria, the older girl, stared at the drawing in her hand before she placed it on the ground. "I drew you a card," she said tearfully. "We wanted to give it to you."

"Yeah," her sister Helena said softly. "Miss Catherine said it's one of her favorite colors, too. See?" Her small fingers traced the picture of a house she'd drawn in purple.

Catherine smiled softly as she thought of the girls' mom. When she saw the girls so sad and alone, she knew she had to take care of them. In a short time, they'd become a family.

Kneeling beside the girls, Catherine asked, "Would you like some time by yourselves?" They nodded, and Catherine pointed to a nearby tree. "I'll be right there."

Maria and Helena smiled and looked back at the grave. "I like Miss Catherine," Helena said. "The other night, I had a bad dream. She made me some hot chocolate. It wasn't as good as yours, but she stayed up with me till I went back to sleep."

Maria smiled at her younger sister. "We've got some good friends, too. Eli...his dad used to work with Miss Catherine...he's in my school. He gave me and Helena some crayons and paper. And Jackson...his dad and mom work with Miss Catherine...he's really nice. Sometimes when he and his family come over, we play with his dog!"

"He's got a baby sister," Helena said. "She's got Miss Catherine's name for a middle name. She likes it when we sing to her."

"We sing her the song you always sang to us at bedtime," Maria added. Her sister hummed a bit of the song.

Helena smiled at her sister. "Maria did good in school. She got a good report card."

"All A's except for math," Maria said. "I got a B. Miss Catherine's been helping me, and I did better on my division work!"

"And I did good, too," Helena said. "I drew a picture of a kitty cat, and my teacher said she liked it!" The little girl smiled at her sister.

The girls stared in sadness at their mother's grave. "We miss you," the elder girl Maria said.

"Yeah," Helena said softly. She held her sister's hand.

"But Miss Catherine takes good care of us," Maria said. "She makes sure we do our homework and brush our teeth. And she makes us eat our vegetables."

"I still don't like cauliflower," Helena said. "But she makes good pisghetti."

Maria couldn't help but smile softly at her little sister. "Yeah, she makes good spaghetti, and lets me put extra cheese on ours."

Catherine smiled as the girls talked. In just two short years, though not legally, they'd become her daughters. She loved them as much as she loved Lindsey. And they and Lindsey and Catherine's mother Lillian adored each other.

The girls softly blew kisses to the headstone. "We miss you, mommy," Helena said.

"Yeah," Maria added. "But we're okay. Miss Catherine takes good care of us. And we're part of her family. Well, they're what she calls her 'CSI family'."

Helena smiled. "Yeah. Jackson and Eli said we can go to the dog park and play with their dogs! They've got Scruffy and Spot!"

Maria giggled, thinking of her and her sister playing with their good friends and the dogs. "And Sara and Nick have dogs, too!"

"Yeah, we love them," Helena said.

"Yeah," Maria said. She smiled at her sister, and Helena gave her a soft smile in return. "We're okay," Maria said, and she knew it was true.

A soft rumble was heard in the sky, and everyone looked up to see a dark cloud. Catherine walked up to the girls. "Looks like it's going to rain."

"Yeah," both girls said in unison.

"How about we go home and have dinner?" Catherine asked.

Helena's eyes brightened. "Can we have pisghetti?"

Catherine smiled warmly. "Sure. And you can have extra cheese."

The girls smiled as Catherine hugged them. Both girls blew kisses to the headstone. "Bye-bye," Helena said.

"We miss you," Maria said. "And we'll come back soon, right?" She asked Catherine.

"Absolutely." Catherine kissed the girls' heads and took their hands. "Let's go."

Both girls waved to the headstone as they left. They still missed their mother, but knew Catherine loved them. And Catherine knew she could never replace the girls' mother, but they were becoming a loving family.

 **The End.**


End file.
